The Dusty Trail
by itoIzumi
Summary: Young city man Henry hits the dirt road in visiting his parents' frequent-mentioned village, while his sister Rachel decides to stay back at the last minute. As he sits in the back of a wobbling carriage, all Henry could think was getting over the visit quickly and go home. But his parents seem to have different plans for him...


**Prologue**

For the longest time, all Henry could ever hear while he sat inside the wobbling carriage was the thunderous trotting of horses' hooves against the earthen ground. Each strident trot the horses took, the more wobbly the carriage got. Henry was never the one to complain about such little things, like his older sister did, but sticking his head out of the small window and questioning the man outside of whether the carriage had loose bolts or screws seemed to be a really tempting choice right now.

"…Oh, whatever, we should be here by any minute now." Henry muttered to himself. After pondering over a few possibilities he had wondered if the man handling the horses out front would get offended and throw him out to walk the long miles towards his destination. It could be a possibility, but the young man wouldn't dare to find out. He'd be damned if that really happened, considering that the village was exact six kilometers away from the city he lived in.

Echo Village, was the name of the village he was heading to.

This wasn't Henry's first time visiting the particular village, from what his parents told him. Somehow he seemed convinced of this as well. The memories were vague; but he could still recall playing hide and seek with his sister in the village, to which the location he couldn't tell, though the images were there. After all, who could ever forget of slipping and falling into a river while they were being chased? Well, Henry couldn't. Boy, was his sister Rachel scary at the time, and he was only seven!

A sudden pause pulled him out of his childhood memories. Henry gave a short yelp, almost hitting his head at the carriage's railing as it halted on its tracks. Before long, the whole transportation came to a full stop and slowly, Henry opened the door, stepping a boot-clad foot onto the land he'd never been to in several years.

Fresh, crisp air, mingled with slight chilliness of the fading winter, gave off a sharp contrast to the carriage's stuffy and humid atmosphere that Henry had been trapped in for at least three hours. He hadn't even had the time to look around his surroundings when his driver, a nice and energetic old man, shoved his luggage to him, grinning cheesy.

"Here ya go, sonny!" Henry held onto his luggage tightly and held back his urge to stumble as the man gave him a strong, hearty pat on the back. Were old men around these parts this strong, compared to the city? "It's sure nice to see that young people like ya still bother to come and visit these old, rural parts nowadays! Yarhahaha!"

Henry blinked, speechless as he caught glimpse of a golden tooth among the old man's yellowed teeth. "…Yeah, I was just coming back to see how things were going at my parents' village." He explained with an animated sweat drop. Henry cradled his backpack and black travelling bag as he retreated a few steps away from the old man.

"Well, it's true I tell ya. Youngsters nowadays would just kill to go to the city! All say that there's no future living in the countryside, but this ol' man here disagrees!" He gave off a big, buffed huff. "I have been living around these parts since I was born _and_ married! Got myself a lovely wife, hard-working son and daughter who don't mind the barn dirt and still haven't left the village in my whole life! Honestly, I don't see why so many people would want to go to the city so badly; it smells so bad there with all the traffic! We haven't got those, only when stubborn cows decide to block roads!" The middle-aged man then chortled at his own joke. A deep, rumbling sound.

Henry resisted his urge to sweat drop again as he forced a small laugh out of his throat. To be perfectly honest, he'd also be happy to choose the city over the countryside anytime. Henry was only here because his parents told him to.

And also, his older sister Rachel would be standing with him today as well…If she hadn't decided to chicken out at the last minute. When the blonde girl heard there wouldn't be wifi in the countryside, she started to go into denial and about not being able to keep in contract with her boyfriend. As if it would kill her for not talking to the guy for a few days… Henry never liked the man; he was too ignorant and proud for his liking. Up until know, he tried to find what Rachel ever saw in him, but failed miserably.

"Oh! Sorry sonny, got a bit too far there. This always happens to me whenever words of the city and countryside come up." The old man grinned his cheesy grin once again at Henry's shrug of shoulders. The pair of wrinkled, droopy eyes glistered behind his round-framed glasses. "Ya don't seem excited to be here, I can tell with my wise old eyes. But give nature and the friendly villagers here a chance, and believe me, you'd fall in love sooner than you can say holy cow!"

Henry smiled and adjusted the straps of his backpack over his shoulders. He knew the man here meant no harm; he was just talking how men mostly his age would say. "I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry here. I promised to meet an old friend of my parents' in ten minutes." Another tug of his black travelling bag and glance of his leather wristwatch was what made the other man turn beef red.

"Ah, but of course sonny! Sorry to take up so much time of ya time!" With a brief hearty laugh, the old man gave his snow-white beard a stroke before hustling back to his two horses, which were now contentedly munching on the fresh green grass growing around. Henry watched as he climbed up onto the carriage with much effort and a momentary 'Hurf!' He resisted the urge to smile at how…silly the man looked while he was trying to make it up. It was also somehow ridiculous as well.

The horses stopped munching when they realized it was time to go. Henry traced a safe distance back so that he won't get kicked by those hard and strong-looking hooves. He paused and looked down to see that he had been stepping on a bed of small pink and white flowers, which spread out inwards to the rest of the grass-covered path. The faint flower fragrance got increasingly pressing as he snapped his head back. Far at the end after two big pine trees, there was a wooden bridge standing between rivers. Surely that path will lead to his destination, Echo Village?

"Hey kid!" Henry twisted his head back within the horses' loud cries. The old man was getting to leave and was waving at him affectionately. He returned the wave with a smile of his own, focusing on what the older man had to say while they were separating ways. "Echo Village's just at the end of that bridge, ya can't miss it! And thanks for putting up with this old man's rumbling, little squirt!"

"You're welcome!" Henry exclaimed back through the horses' neighs. The small smile he'd plastered on his face slowly faded when the old man trotted off, and from the back he could clearly see the carriage wobbling, if not in the slightest. Seeing that reminded Henry he'd forgotten to question the man about the carriage's safety, for the sake of his other passengers and possibly himself in the future.

"Oh well, maybe someone will speak it out for me later." Henry spoke, shrugging his shoulders. He hurled a brief glance at his wrist before averting back. The young man couldn't afford to be late; it would only leave a bad impression on his parents' long-trusted friend. And so he stared at the direction where the old man and his horses had disappeared to for a few seconds, before looking away and started to walk forwards. Grass rustled and brushed across his sports shoes as he strolled past leisurely.

'_This is actually not so bad.'_ Henry could feel a small smile forming on his tightly-closed lips at the thought. He had always thought of the countryside a strange reality, one completely different from the hectic life he lead in the city. They rode horses and sometimes cows, raised alpacas and yaks, and plant and fish for a living. Obviously no one in the city did those. It would be even hard to see a lone cow in the traffic-jammed roads, much less than being able to raise them.

But now, instead of seeing the same gray and black scenery he long got used to, the greenery stretched before him like a huge quilt. Occasionally there was a small black rabbit that appeared, watching him curiously from the back of a pine tree. Butterflies, in all different shapes and colors which he'd never seen before, flew and fluttered by him as they pleased.

One even perched itself on one strap of his bag pack with its small antennas tingling. Henry never got this close with a butterfly before and he had to admit he rather liked it. He could image his whole day planned out before him after meeting up with his parents' friend. Like rambling through pastures and over stiles, he hitched his travelling bag over his shoulder and felt at peace with the world.

Henry gazed towards the gurgling river at his right side. There was also a small platform of flattened rock at the edge with a wooden stick hanging up, but he'd not idea what it was for. Oh well, he would find out sooner or later. A sweet scent then tickled his nostrils. Henry recognized it and looked around, his eyes widening in delight as he saw a few mint plants growing amidst the flower bed. He made a mental note to go pick some later for his sister as 'souvenirs'.

'_Rachel would sure regret for not coming along when I come home and tell her how this place was like.'_ He curled the end of his lips into a sly smirk at the thought. His sister had always been a massive fan of Mother Nature, and she would be in remorseful tears on missing this wonderful place filled with such nature. Henry could feel both his body and soul being rejuvenated in mere moments of arriving here. Maybe staying a few days here in the countryside wasn't so bad for a change. What could possibly go wrong?

As Henry strolled across the surprisingly sturdy bridge in a carefree manner, he still hadn't realized that his sister would have got the last laugh in the end, not himself.

* * *

**A/N: Hello there! Well, here you have it, my first fanfiction on Harvest Moon: A New Beginning...Oh, I should note that both siblings here(Rachel &amp; Henry) are city people. Like, an ****urbanite or of sorts. This is why the story and characters' settling would be slightly different, but you could treat it as a modern age story with young people coming to this rural village in the countryside. **

**And before I forget, it's pretty obvious that I do not own Harvest Moon. Personally I don't like repeating things over and over again like a broken record so, yeah. **

***grins* That's all for now. Please ignore any typos or grammatical errors, as English is not my main language. Reviews are also greatly appreciated, let me know if there's anything you find unacceptable. I'll try to correct it!**


End file.
